Fear stalks Bihar village after massacre

Visits by RJD chief Laloo Yadav, Mohsina Kidwai of the Congress, BJP MP Dukha Bhagat, officials and journalists have failed to instill confidence among the villagers. Reports say a tribal who witnessed the exchange of fire between the two outfits was shot at by Ali Sena members while he was coming to Ranchi by train last afternoon. He is in hospital.

Sukra Oraon, a Narkopi resident who has migrated to Bogro village with his family, is in tears. 8220;When we refused to open the door that night, Ali Sena activists smashed the roof to enter our house. They were armed with guns, swords and spears. They pulled my son out and slit his neck,8221; he says.

Fulo Devi 42, a resident of Patratoli who lost her husband Khudi Oraon, has three unmarried daughters. 8220;We just don8217;t want to live here. But with our land and cattle here, we can8217;t move,8221; she says. 8220;They broke open the door, dragged my husband out and stabbed him.8221;

Police say the killings were masterminded by the Ali Sena after the MCC gunned down six of their supporters at Narkopi Bazar on September 13. All the seven killed on Wednesday are suspected to be MCC activists.

Most villagers here are farm labourers working on daily wages. Out of fear, none of them is learnt to have stepped out into the fields since the massacre.

Senior SSP Gupteshwar Pandey says a police picket has been set up in the village. A picket was put up at Narkopi in 1999, but policemen were withdrawn after the MCC looted their arms and uniform.

Police say that the MCC-distributed literature seized shows the outfit has gained foothold in this belt by mobilising the tribals, whose hundreds ofacres of land were usurped by Narkopi residents Usman, Md Israil and Amaruddin Ansari early last decade.

Usman, who was wanted by the police in more than 12 cases of murder, dacoity and rape of tribal girls, is learnt to have joined hands with Lohardaga resident Sahabuddin to float Ali Sena, a Muslim outfit to fight the MCC. Sahabuddin is in Ranchi jail. But Usman, Md Israil and Amiruddin Ansariare absconding.

At Narkopi, the police picket is close to the huts of the Muslims. This hasraised eyebrows among the tribals. 8220;The police is not meant for us,8221; says one of them.